German Navy frigate, tender wrap up NATO deployments

A German Navy frigate and a tender are set to return their homeports of Wilhelmshaven and Kiel on Friday, after concluding their NATO deployments.

Tender Rhein is returning to Kiel after serving as flagship of the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) for over five months.

The ship’s crew got underway from their homeport and headed for the Mediterranean Sea on June 20. From aboard the Rhein, SNMCMG2 commander Frigate Captain Frank Maginsky led a force of up to seven mine countermeasure vessels on operations from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Black Sea.

A German Navy ship will also be at the helm of SNMCMG2 for the first half of 2019, it has been announced. Tender Werra will deploy from Kiel in January and lead the group into the summer.

Returning to Wilhelmshaven on Friday, Bremen-class frigate Lübeck will conclude over four months of operations with Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2). The frigate operated with other NATO ships in the Mediterranean until it was replaced by the 173-meter-long Berlin-class replenishment ship Bonn early December.

FGS Lübeck is one of the two remaining F122 frigates which are being replaced by the new F125 frigates as they enter service.